Brockville General Hospital will receive $5.5 million more this year as part of a provincial government boost to funding for small and medium-sized hospitals.

Local MPP Steve Clark announced on Thursday that the three hospitals in Leeds and Grenville will share an additional $6.9 million this year. The Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital will receive $1.26 million, while the Kemptville and District Hospital will get a $158,000 boost.

Clark said the money is part of a $68-million increase in funding to Ontario’s small and medium hospitals, including a 1.5-per-cent annual bump for medium-sized hospitals and a one-per-cent hike for smaller hospitals, such as in Kemptville.

Some of the money is for one-time improvements to target “unique situations and historical funding challenges.”

The money is part of the government’s efforts to correct the funding imbalance between Ontario’s big-city hospitals and the smaller community hospitals like those in Leeds and Grenville, said Clark, MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.

Clark said it is a cause that he has championed since he first entered Queen’s Park nine years ago. He said he was proud that the Conservative government has finally heard the pleas of the smaller hospitals and taken action.

“Wow,” exclaimed BGH board chairman Jim Cooper, echoing the delight of the other hospital officials and employees gathered in the BGH cafeteria to hear Clark’s announcement.

“This is a historic move for Leeds and Grenville.”

Cooper gave some credit to Nick Vlacholias, BGH’s chief executive officer, who drafted a report to the provincial government to outline the funding inequities in the system.

“The province appreciated the accuracy of this report and they acted,” Cooper said. “This isn’t just BGH; this inequity has been shared by many hospitals across Ontario.”

In an interview, Vlacholias said he only received word of the additional money while listening to Clark’s announcement so he had no idea of how the $5.5-million windfall might be spent. But he said there is no shortage of places where the hospital needs to spend money.

Senior administrative staff, the board and the medical staff will meet over the next weeks and months to decide where the money can best be used, including upgrading aging equipment, he said.

Vlacholias said the hospital must wait for directions from the Ministry of Health to see whether there are any restrictions on how the money must be spent.

Vlacholias said BGH has an annual budget of about $87 million and noted that the hospital had a balanced budget in 2018 and it is on track to balance its books again this year.